Governor DeSantis visits Jasper and awards more than $5.4 million to Hamilton County

Governor Ron DeSantis with Hamilton County Officials, during a press conference in Jasper, Florida, April 5, 2022 -SVT Photo by Tami Stevenson

Updated April 11, 2022

By Tami Stevenson

Jasper, Fla., – Last week, Governor Ron DeSantis visited residents of Jasper and Hamilton County, and he came bearing gifts, awarding more than $5.4 million to Hamilton County through the Governor’s Florida Job Growth Grant Fund to facilitate the buildout of a 57-acre parcel at the intersection of I-75 and SR-6 in Hamilton County. The planned development will include a logistics park and travel center and will have the potential for future manufacturing opportunities.

He also approved $880,000 for a new volunteer fire station in western Hamilton County off State Road 6, Crossroads Fire Station.

“Bringing innovative opportunities to Florida’s rural communities does much more than create jobs,” said Governor Ron DeSantis. “Projects like this pave the way for a bright future for rural communities by supporting new developments, economic growth, and workforce opportunities.”

Many residents turned out for the press conference to show their support for the Governor's efforts on things like education, parents' rights and keeping Florida 'open for business.’

He spoke on a number of different issues including inflation and those topics mentioned above, with much cheering from the crowd.

Toward the end of the press conference he spoke about a recent event where the White House dropped the ball for Florida. He said several really severe tornadoes tore through some mobile home parks in southwest Florida a couple months ago, where many of the residents were senior citizens, living on social security. DeSantis said a number of mobile homes were totally destroyed, others were destroyed enough to where they couldn’t stay in them and needed major repairs.

“…We declared a state of emergency to apply for aid from the federal government. Biden stiffed us! He stiffed these tornado victims on tornado relief. So they were getting nothing from Biden. He will spend billions of dollars to help illegals get across the border but he couldn’t muster one red cent for our tornado victims in southwest Florida?”

The Governor went on to add that there were 300 seniors that were displaced or affected. They wound up raising 1.3 million dollars to help the tornado victims through charity. “We’re not going to let the White House treat our state like that, so if we have to go and open the spigots with charity, then we’re going to open the spigots with charity.” Adding that he had the Republican Party of Florida kick in $100,000 for it, and said why should we use that on political stuff when we need to help people. “So we put our money where our mouth is and other organizations, individuals and businesses put their money where their mouth is and so, that’s what it’s really all about.” He said he was proud to be able to step up and help those folks.

After the press conference he stepped down off the platform into the crowd where constituents shook his hand, hugged him and took photos with him.

One such family was the Windham family, from Jasper. Their newly born daughter, Sadie June, was just three weeks old the day of the press conference. Her parents, Chance and Chelsea Windham, said they were proud to be able to have their picture taken with Governor DeSantis.

Chelsea Windham said they were hoping to get a photo with him, but he was wrapping things up by the time they reached the front. Almost everyone had exited the building, but he stopped and talked with them and they were able to get a photo.

“We wanted to see the Governor today because we are really big supporters, because of everything he does for everyday Americans, fighting for students and young children in the state.” She added that it meant a lot to them that Governor DeSantis came to visit their small, rural area.

"It's cool to think about the future and maybe one day he’ll be president and we'll have a picture with him when he was our governor," she stated.